This invention relates to a system for aiding bedding purchasers in their selection of a mattress and box spring combination according to their physiology and habits.
A good night""s sleep is so important that most people are willing to pay a premium for a mattress system which is particularly comfortable. The increased recognition of the health benefits of sleeping well makes such expenditures rational.
Many people find the experience of purchasing bedding confusing and dissatisfying. Reasons for this include: (1) mattress purchases are made only a few times per lifetime, (2) one cannot examine the interior of the product being purchased and must therefore (3) rely on the expertise of commissioned salesmen who may tend to recommend products they have in stock, and (4) it is difficult to comparison price shop because of the very large number of mattress manufacturers and models, and the absence of standardized mattress ratings.
It would be helpful to bedding purchasers to have an automatic system which could analytically and fairly measure physiological parameters important to mattress selection, and then automatically recommend a bedding product most suitable for the purchaser. Such a system, if placed in a store, would give customers a preliminary idea of the factors involved, and the products suited for them, before talking to a salesman.
An object of the invention is to enable mattress distributors and the like to measure the sleeping attributes of potential customers at sites convenient to the customers, so that properly designed bedding can be selected.
It is important that a measuring system be fast, accurate and not embarrassing or uncomfortable for the subject. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a measuring system which requires only that the subject lie on a test bed for a few moments, and answer a few basic questions (height, age gender, etc.) in order to produce a recommended bedding selection.
Another feature of the invention is to enable a purchaser who does not have access to the test bed to obtain a mattress recommendation based entirely on answers to a questionnaire. For example, a person buying a mattress could obtain a recommendation for him- or herself by the method described above, and then in addition enter information about the absent spouse so that a bedding recommendation for the couple jointly could be obtained. This questionnaire-only method could also be used by people shopping remotely, e.g., over the internet.
These and other objects are attained by mattress selection system as described below.